The Periwig-Maker

The
Periwig-Maker tells the story of a man who seals himself off in Medieval
plague-infested London to escape the danger of infection.

Besides
its story about the plague and how every epidemic changes people's
behavior, The Periwig-Maker asks some philosophical questions.
It
deals with the problem of responsibility for other people and for
yourself: can you do wrong, when you do nothing... a very German
question indeed. It also represents two different ways of living
by the little girl and the wig maker: you can risk your life and
live before you die, or you can prevent yourself from risking anything
and live the life of a dead person. Keeping that in mind, the film
has a positive twist at the end.
-- Steffen Schäeffler

Awards include: First Film Award, Zagreb Animation Festival, 2000;
The Children's Jury Award for Short Fiction Film, Annecy International
Animation Festival, 2000; Independent Film Award, Ottawa International
Animation Festival, 2000; and the Prize For Best Film Produced in Europe,
Cinanima Animation Festival, 2000

Biography:
Annette and Steffen Schäeffler, a sister and brother team, started making
films in 1993. Since then, they have produced six live-action shorts,
one animated short and one 60 minute documentary. In most of their projects,
Annette is the producer, Steffen the director, but both of them are author
and editor. They studied in two German film schools and in 1994, founded
their own production company Ideal Standard Film.